A Learning Experience, Book 1

When a bunch of interstellar scavengers approach Earth intending to abduct a few dozen humans and sell them into slavery in the darkest, they make the mistake of picking on Steve Stuart and his friends, ex-military veterans all. Unprepared for humans who can actually fight, unaware of the true capabilities of their stolen starships, the scavengers rapidly lose control of the ship - and their lives.

Ark Royal

Seventy years ago, the interstellar supercarrier Ark Royal was the pride of the Royal Navy. But now, her weapons are outdated and her solid-state armour nothing more than a burden on her colossal hull. She floats in permanent orbit near Earth, a dumping ground for the officers and crew the Royal Navy wishes to keep out of the public eye. But when a deadly alien threat appears, the modern starships built by humanity are no match for the powerful alien weapons.

Dreadnaught: The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier

The first book of best-selling sci-fi author Jack Campbell's new series Beyond the Frontier returns to find Captain John "Black Jack" Geary, the hero of the Lost Fleet series, awoken from cryogenic sleep to take command of the fleet. Geary's legendary exploits have earned him the adoration of the people-and the enmity of politicians convinced that a living hero can be a very inconvenient thing.

Battle Cruiser: Lost Colonies, Book 1

One starship will either save Earth or destroy her. A century ago our star erupted, destroying Earth's wormhole network and closing off trade with her colonized planets. After being out of contact with the younger worlds for so many years, Humanity is shocked when a huge ship appears at the edge of the solar system. Our outdated navy investigates, both curious and fearful. What they learn from the massive vessel shocks the planet.

The Synchronicity War, Part 1

After almost a century of peaceful exploration and colonization of space, the United Earth Space Force stumbles across a shockingly xenophobic alien race that has more and better armed ships and refuses all attempts at contact. As the outgunned Space Force is driven back in battle after battle in what appears to be a war of extermination, one officer experiences precognitive visions that help him blunt the enemy onslaught, but he can't control or predict when they occur.

Koban: Conflict and Empire

The Galactic Federation is confronted by the vast and implacable Thandol Empire, which has coveted the former Krall region of space for eons, a region of space now occupied and claimed by the upstart Kobani. Outnumbered, they face an opponent who possesses new and deadly weapons. An enemy that had thousands of years to develop the means to take on the Krall Empire, and now present the supermen with a weapon that turns their greatest genetic asset into their greatest weakness.

Alice: Alice Series #1

Captain Jacob Thomas, USMC, is a divorced combat veteran just trying to get his life back on track. Returning to the marine corps after a failed attempt at reconciliation with his estranged wife, Jake volunteers for a DARPA experiment that catapults him into a future where humanity has been stripped of 200 years of technological advancements and more than half its population. With the help of a faceless benefactor named Alice, he escapes the confines of an abandoned lab facility.

H. J. Cazaly says:"is this a sex book or a sci fi book. more a sex bo"

Discovery of the Saiph: Saiph, Book 1

The TDF Marco Polo embarks on its maiden voyage outside Earth's solar system, leading to the discovery of an extinct civilization destroyed by orbital bombardment. Deep underground is a mysterious library of alien secrets.

The Empire's Corps

The Galactic Empire is dying and chaos and anarchy are breaking out everywhere. After a disastrous mission against terrorists on Earth itself, Captain Edward Stalker of the Terran Marine Corps makes the mistake of speaking truth to power, telling one of the most powerful men in the Empire a few home truths. As a result, Captain Stalker and his men are unceremoniously exiled to Avalon, a world right on the Rim of the Empire. It should have been an easy posting...

Off Armageddon Reef: Safehold Series, Book 1

When Earth herself lay under siege by an enemy humankind could not defeat, mankind undertook one last throw of the dice: Operation Ark. Earth's final colonizing expedition was meant to build a new civilization, on a planet so distant even the Gbaba might never find it, and without the high-tech infrastructure whose emissions might betray its location.

The Silver Ships: The Silver Ships, Book 1

An explorer tug captain, Alex Racine detects a damaged alien craft drifting into the system. Recognizing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make first contact, Alex pulls off a daring maneuver to latch on to the derelict. Alex discovers the ship was attacked by an unknown craft, the first of its kind ever encountered. The mysterious silver ship's attack was both instant and deadly.

The Lost Starship

Ten thousand years ago, a single alien super-ship survived a desperate battle. The vessel's dying crew set the AI on automatic to defend the smashed rubble of their planet. Legend has it the faithful ship continues to patrol the empty battlefield, obeying its last order throughout the lonely centuries.In the here and now, Earth needs a miracle. Out of the Beyond invade the New Men, stronger, faster and smarter than the old. Their superior warships and advanced technology destroy every fleet sent to stop them.

Crusade: Starfire, Book 1

Spacers call the warp point Charon's Ferry. No star ship has ever entered it and returned since a vengeful Orion task force pursued a doomed Terran colonization fleet into it in 2206. Almost a century has passed. The fiery hatreds of a quarter-century of warfare between the Terran Federation and the Zheeerlikou'valkhannaieeee, the cat-like species humans called the "Orions", have eased at least a little.

Warship: Black Fleet Trilogy, Book 1

In the 25th century, humans have conquered space. The advent of faster-than-light travel has opened up hundreds of habitable planets for colonization, and humans have exploited the virtually limitless space and resources for hundreds of years with impunity. So complacent have they become with the overabundance that armed conflict is a thing of the past, and their machines of war are obsolete and decrepit. What would happen if they were suddenly threatened by a terrifying new enemy?

Aurora: CV-01: Frontiers Saga, Book 1

world recovering from a devastating plague. A brutal enemy threatening invasion. A young man seeking to escape the shadow of his father. A ship manned by a crew of fresh academy graduates. A top-secret experimental propulsion system. A questionable alliance with a mysterious green-eyed woman. What destiny has in store for the crew of the UES Aurora is far greater than any of them could ever imagine. And this is only the beginning....

Steel World: Undying Mercenaries, Book 1

In the twentieth century Earth sent probes, transmissions and welcoming messages to the stars. Unfortunately, someone noticed. The Galactics arrived with their battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined their vast Empire. Swearing allegiance to our distant alien overlords wasn't the only requirement for survival. We also had to have something of value to trade, something that neighboring planets would pay their hard-earned credits to buy.

The Reality Dysfunction

The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton is the first in Night's Dawn, a sweeping galactic trilogy from the master of space opera. In AD 2600 the human race is finally realizing its full potential. Hundreds of colonized planets across the galaxy host a multitude of wildly diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has pushed evolution far beyond nature's boundaries, defeating disease and producing extraordinary space-born creatures.

The Oncoming Storm: Angel in the Whirlwind, Book 1

In the year 2420, war looms between the galaxy's two most powerful empires: the tyrannical Theocracy and the protectionist Commonwealth. Caught in the middle sits the occupied outpost system Cadiz, where young officer and aristocrat Katherine "Kat" Falcone finds herself prematurely promoted at the behest of her powerful father. Against her own wishes, Kat is sent to command the Commonwealth navy's newest warship, Lightning.

Renegade: Spiral Wars, Book 1

One thousand years after Earth was destroyed in an unprovoked attack, humanity has emerged victorious from a series of terrible wars to assure its place in the galaxy. But during celebrations on humanity's new Homeworld, the legendary Captain Pantillo of the battle carrier Phoenix is court-martialed then killed, and his deputy, Lieutenant Commander Erik Debogande, the heir to humanity's most powerful industrial family, is framed with his murder.

Barbarians at the Gates: The Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire, Book 1

The Federation has endured for hundreds of years, but now it is dying, killed by the corruption and decadence of the Senate and the rising power of military warlords. The shipping lanes are coming apart, the colonists are revolting, and outside forces are pressing against undefended borders. Now, as one warlord makes a bid for supreme power, the entire edifice is on the verge of falling apart.

Starship Eternal: War Eternal, Book 1

Captain Mitchell "Ares" Williams is a Space Marine and the hero of the Battle for Liberty whose Shot Heard 'Round the Universe saved the planet from a nearly unstoppable war machine. He's handsome, charismatic, and the perfect poster boy to help the military drive enlistment. Pulled from the war and thrown into the spotlight, he's as efficient at charming the media and bedding beautiful celebrities as he was at shooting down enemy starfighters.

Annihilation: Love Conquers All

Tag, an exceptional young human living in Central City on the planet Earth, tries to keep his powerful, one-of-a-kind skills undetected by leading an ordinary life and staying under the radar. But one day, on the way home from school, Tag's compassion leads him to make a decision that alters the course of his life - and history.

To Honor You Call Us: Man of War, Book 1

The Terran Union is engaged in a vast interstellar war against the Krag Ruthless aliens intent on exterminating humankind. In 2315, the wily Max Robichaux is given command of the USS Cumberland, a destroyer with state-of-the-art capabilities but a combat record so bad, she's known as the "Cumberland Gap." Capt. Robichaux's first mission: to take his warship to the Free Corridor, where the Krag have secretly been buying strategic materials, and to seize or destroy any ships carrying enemy cargo.

Koban, Book 1

We colonized 700 planets. Humankind enjoyed the benefits of expansion room and the end of wars. We even disbanded our military. Then the Krall found us. The Krall have used thousands of years of combat to select the genes of the strongest and fastest warriors. They are a species determined to dominate the entire galaxy, through destruction and annihilation of every opponent.

Koban is an uninhabited high-gravity planet with impossibly fast savage animals, which employ organic superconducting nerves. This deadly world is where the Krall tested humans for war capability.

Publisher's Summary

"Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying." (Arthur C. Clarke)

Book one in the Wings of Steele series, Destination Unknown is an epic science-fiction adventure that reaches from the surface of our familiar planet and the safety of terra firma to the dark, vast expanse of deep space and distant star systems.

Jack Steele is an ex-big-city cop that left the department after losing a friend in the line of duty. Recovering from a tough divorce, he reinvents himself with a love of flying and restructures his life as a pilot for hire. Accompanied by his ever-present German Shepherd, Fritz, Jack will fly almost anything anywhere, shuttling new and used planes for clients all over the world.

He had never been a Boy Scout, but he is a man who likes to stay prepared and in control of whatever life throws at him. But nothing could have prepared Jack and his copilot for how life suddenly goes drastically and violently sideways, in a direction and magnitude that no one could have ever anticipated. Wanted men, it seems, like everyone on the planet, are hunting them, and their only option is to run...but to where?

I felt I had to write this review to warn people, there is a genesis of a potentially good story but.....

What could Jeffrey J. Burger have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

The plot lacks depth, if you have any imagination then you question almost every development as the main characters meander along the path making decisions which do not seem to be based on logic, the existing situation or any other reason comprehensible to the reader. this is science fiction. But there is little science or knowledge of the physical laws in the book or an explanation of why they are not true, e.g. he uses space fighters with reaction engines, fuel is exhausted out the back and propels the ship forward, but when the throttles are shut, the fighter is dead in space, not on a ballistic course and the turn and junk as if they where a atmospheric fighter.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Kevin Clay?

I am British and there are a couple of British characters in the book which are so offensively stereotypical that it annoyed me instead of entertained me. The language employed by these British characters is contextually wrong and I am not sure if this is the author or narrator's decision but the accent used combined with the language is just wrong, I have met and conversed with a large spectrum of people from all backgrounds and have never met anyone like this.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Wings of Steele: Destination Unknown, Book 1?

Definitely needs more details in the plot development, remove the misogynistic elements of the book, make it more believable.

Any additional comments?

This is a very negative review and I know there might be people out there who will enjoy this book, However this is the 1st book in over 20 years that I have abandoned without finishing, and that combined with the comments articulated above compelled me to write this.

I didn't manage to finish it. It just got so bad. If you like cheesy 80s action characters, stories where everything goes right for the goodies (only some bad boo boos but only flesh wounds) and the hero can sleep around with as many women as he likes with no consequences then you may like it. Otherwise go for some Elizabeth Moon or Chris Bunch.

I'm torn in two directions with this book...One one hand, it was very entertaining and kept my attention the entire time.On the other hand, there were too many loose strings, unexplained holes, and unrealistic characters and events then I would generally prefer in any story.

The story follows a former police officer turned pilot. In the wake of a recent messy divorce, he makes a new life and successful career for himself as an independent pilot. While on a trip to deliver a WWII plane to a movie set, he is... well, abducted by aliens. With him is his dog, his co-pilot partner, two naval pilots, and a covert US intelligence operative. The latter three characters are a long story, but the short version is that there were some snags in the plan to deliver the plane, and the two navy pilots were chasing them... Post-Abduction, the five find out that they are on a luxury alien cruise ship, and that it will be some time (possibly years) before they can return to earth. They decide to make a life for themselves as pilots. After defending the cruise ship from a pilot attack, they take the ship and fighters as their own and decide to continue as something like galactic navy pirate hunters.

As I said I really did enjoy listening to it, but the story just has too many problems to be considered a good book. Lets lay some of them out...The characters are very one dimensional. The main female character (supposedly a covert US intelligence officer, and assumed to be a rather smart person) has the attitude, mentality, and emotions of a two-year old child. Some of the technology is believable, but some things seem closer to magic than something you'd find in a Science Fiction book.There are waaaay to many holes in the story, or things that are just never explained properly, such as how the planes actually got on the ship and why several days passed before they realized it. There is also an entire sub-story back on earth with everyone looking for the missing planes that is very unbelievable. We even find out that the whole trip that he was on to deliver the plane was planned by US intelligence, but that it is never explained or elaborated on (like a lot of other things). Also, there is this ancient alien guy that pops up to tell the main character that everything happening to him is all part of his "fate" or "destiny" or something like that... Kinda weird.

As I said, I enjoyed the listen, but this was more like a long science fiction comic book than anything else. It was worth the credit, but only barely. I may or may not download the next in the series (if there is a next audiobook) depending on what mood I'm in.

15 of 17 people found this review helpful

Barry Owens

Music City, USA

19/05/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Loved the book and the narrator!"

I very much enjoyed this book. If you have ever wondered what happened to all those people on ships and planes that disappeared inside the Bermuda Triangle, this story gives you one possibility.

When Jack Steele disappears inside the Bermuda Triangle with a vintage bomber that he supposed to be delivering for the CIA many Federal agencies become involved in looking for him.

Meanwhile, Steele and others who disappeared with him find themselves on a ship in space that is of alien origin. In the beginning, all he can think about is where is he and how is he going to get back home. However, as things play out he finds himself commanding a spaceship of his own.

There were not a lot of Star Wars'esque space battles in this book, but there was indeed plenty of action.

Love the characters. By the end of the book I found myself caring about them and wanting to know more. Thank goodness there are more books to be had.

The narrator of Destination Unknown, Kevin Clay, had a voice that kind of reminded me a newscaster. He would seem to have had some voice training as all of his characters were separate and distinct. One or two might have been a little cheesy, but the overall effect was very entertaining.

I highly recommend this book.

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Amazon Customer

12/05/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Awesome Story!!!!"

This book is a must for anyone that has ever dreamt of what it would be like to go into space. The performance, characters, and story are incredible!

I'm really looking forward to the continuing adventures of Steele and his crew!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Dustin

29/04/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Great fun!"

While a little chauvinistic at times this was an excellent ride! The story was very intriguing and puts a new spin on escapism.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Delta Stet

Texas

20/04/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Empty characters, but interesting story."

I had a difficult time finishing this book. The story was interesting, but not well executed and they first few chapters were so outrageous that I almost put it down before they ended up on the spaceship. The dialogue is feels unnatural and the descriptions feel more like extended stage directions in a screenplay. The characters are hollow and stereotypical; I could not stand Jack and his uber-masculinity, or the frustrating portrayal of the women in this book. The dog had more personality than all of the main characters.

Now, I read a lot of reviews that claimed the grammar/spelling errors were enough to put it down before finishing. I can't say if these were corrected with the edition I received as I listened to the audio book. If they were as bad as I've read then I would have definitely put it down. However, I didn't read the physical copy and I found Kevin Clay to be an excellent narrator. This is the second book I've listened to him read and he has the perfect type of voice and inflection for sci fi/action stories. His pacing was great and I look forward to listening to more books read by him.

Empty characters, but interesting story.

**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

zoe

02/04/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Wings of Steele"

Would you listen to Wings of Steele: Destination Unknown, Book 1 again? Why?

Yes I will listen again.

What about Kevin Clay’s performance did you like?

The narrator did a good job

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It is slow in the beginning but once it's gets going you can't put it down! I like the mix, would be most people's dream to end up in Captian Steele's spot. Very good detail! We all learn as we go! You will not be disappointed! I can't wait for the next one! I agree with other reviews he is on his way and is similar to well read authors in quality.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

bigsky99

23/04/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"it will get you"

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes and have

What other book might you compare Wings of Steele: Destination Unknown, Book 1 to and why?

fear the sky

What about Kevin Clay’s performance did you like?

its OK not the best i have listen to

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

started slow not real slow before the end of the 1st chapter it step on the gas after that

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Amazon Customer

01/04/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"A true Sci-Fi adventure"

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would highly recommend this book and the series. The development of the extra terrestrial society is well thought out and fully developed. The characters are strong and lively. The book is full of action with enough science to make a good Sci-Fi tale.

What does Kevin Clay bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His narrative adds an additional dimension to the tale. The pace and animation of the text is well thought out and adds depth to the interaction of the characters.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Eric James Mangum

09/08/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Couldn't stop listening"

What did you love best about Wings of Steele: Destination Unknown, Book 1?

Everything.

Any additional comments?

Had to get all three series of it and now WAITING on more books to come.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

TDTech8

19/07/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"A literal blast from start to finish!"

Well, smartly written sci-fi series with great characters, plot, lots of action, romance and more! I am now truly a fan of Jeffrey J. Burger and have already ordered Book 2 with Book#3 on deck! I love The way Burger created his hero of the Wings of Steele series with Jack Steele, a tough, fearless, pragmatic but surprisingly compassionate man who simply drives story.

With his faithful friend for life, his beloved German Shepherd, Fritz as well as those he loves and his fiercely loyal crew, I loved this first book and after this review, will be tearing right into Book# 2 "Wings of Steele: Flight of Freedom".

Kevin Clay as the voice actor for this series, is nothing short of amazing and talented!

If you are on Audible.com in search of a great and evolving Sci-Fi series that will keep you glued to your headsets and riveted to the storyline, then check out the Wings of Steele audiobook series starting with "Wings of Steele: Destination Unknown-- Awesome!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

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